Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

A Ghost In The Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa

21 reviews

savvylit's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Doireann Ni Ghriofa is an immensely talented author. Her past experience as a poet shines through in her lyrical and often rhythmic prose. Many of the sentences in this unique book are both delectable and gorgeous.

A Ghost in the Throat is an intertwining of personal memoir and embellished biography. The most powerful passages in this narrative are those that are the most personal. For instance, when Ni Ghriofa's daughter is born prematurely, Doireann spends a harrowing and fevered period at the NICU alongside other worried mothers. The sense of uncertainty and hope in that particular section was palpable and unforgettable.

Overall, the way in which Ni Ghriofa connects to her fellow mothers - whether it be Eibhlin Dubh or the women at the NICU - is what makes this book work. That being said, I personally struggled to be interested in following Eibhlin Dubh's story. Ni Ghriofa ultimately learns quite a lot about Dubh as time goes on, but not anything that seemed to me to be particularly enlightening. For that reason, I finished the book feeling like I had missed something. Ultimately, though, I loved Ni Ghriofa's writing style and skill. I'd love to read some of her poems at some point. Perhaps I'd enjoy those more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Murder, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

alexisgarcia's review

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

hmmm this wasn’t exactly what i was expecting but it definitely wasn’t bad. this was a type of book i’ve never read before. this was incredibly interesting but a think a tiny bit repetitive and drawn out?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Blood, Death, Grief, and Murder

maddiep333's review

informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Gore, Car accident, Chronic illness, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, and Pregnancy

snapshotsofabookishlass's review

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Pregnancy

yilliun's review against another edition

inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

“This is a female text.”

I cried with Ní Ghríofa and I rejoiced with her as she followed the life of Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill. Adding in the Caoineadh at the end felt like such a triumph. The slow and circular writing always comes together and unlike many many other slowly paced books Ní Ghríofa pulls it off. She makes Ní Chonaill come to life again and seamlessly melds her modern life with her beloved poet.

Past becomes present again. Absolutely my favorite genre of modern literature. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Medical trauma, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts

Strong content warning for pregnancy/ near miscarriage. It would be difficult to read this book without reading those sections

booknerdbetty's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Pregnancy

feralbookwife's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

Just when I was ready to take a break from memoirs, this one knocked my socks off. Went into this one completely blind, just liking the title and cover style, and could not have picked a more poignant book. This is a powerful, deeply honest text with lots of tears along the way. 

CW: animal death, pregnancy, birth trauma, murder, violence, sexism, mental health, autopsy 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Grief, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Car accident, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Colonisation, and Child death

hanz's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Interesting and strange book. I think the blurb is misleading and the book is more memoir than about Eibhlín Dubh, but it is partly about the authors relationship to Eibhlín Dubh and the poem Caoineadh Art Uí Laoghaire. It is also about motherhood, pregnancy and obsession and about connecting to women throughout history. I enjoyed it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Grief, Murder, and Miscarriage

imaginaryisobel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad

3.0

I literally went back and forth in what to rate this sm. It's beautifully written and some bits are easily 4/5 stars but other parts are so difficult to get through and are 1/2 stars. I feel like it was a bit directionless and could deffo have been much shorter but the themes and idea is really interesting 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

woweewhoa's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Pregnancy, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual content, Car accident, and Miscarriage